October 31, 2014
CENAO-WR-R
NAO 2013-1980
FEDERAL PUBLIC NOTICE
The District Commander has received a joint application for Federal and State permits as described below:
APPLICANT
Mecklenburg County
c/o Wayne CarterPO Box 307
Boydton, Virginia 23917
WATERWAY AND LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The project is located in Tapped Branch a tributary to James River, in Mecklenburg County, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The applicant proposes to build a multi-phase Industrial Park Expansion on a 189 acre parcel to further expand the existing data campus in order to meet overall online services demand. The project will consist of building a regional datacenter, including multiple buildings, and providing associated support infrastructure to house servers and computer equipment.
Notice is hereby given that Mecklenburg County (Permittee) is proposing to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the US Army Corps of Engineers (Norfolk District) and Virginia Department of Historic Resources under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The Permittee has completed the identification and evaluation of historic properties and the Corps, in consultation with the SHPO, finds that the Phase I identification survey entitled Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Mecklenburg Industrial Park (Dutton and Striker, 2014) and the Phase II evaluation survey entitled Phase II Archaeological Evaluation of the Mosley Cemetery (058-5128 and 44MC0920) Mecklenburg Industrial Park (Dutton and Metz 2014) meets the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Documentation (48 FR 44734-37, September 29, 1983) and Corps and DHR accept the reports as a reasonable and good faith effort to identify and evaluate historic property.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources National Register Eligibility Evaluation Team and the Corps concurred with the consultant’s recommendation that site 44MC0920 is eligible for the National Register for the National register under Criteria D. The Mosley Cemetery (44MC0920) has been deemed eligible for, and recommended for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
The project requires an Individual Permit from the Norfolk District Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act for the unavoidable impacts of 0.23 acres of wetlands and 4297 linear feet of stream for the proposed development. Issuance of this permit constitutes a Federal undertaking, subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Procedures have been established which must be followed in order for the Corps to comply with the NHPA and other applicable historic preservation laws. In compliance with the NHPA, the Norfolk District is interested in identifying “consulting parties” with whom to coordinate the effects of the project on historic properties, and possible means of avoiding or mitigating adverse effects on such properties.
AUTHORITY: Permits are required pursuant to Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act (Public Law 95-217) and Title 62.1 of the Code of Virginia.
FEDERAL EVALUATION OF APPLICATION: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest. The decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources. The benefits which reasonably may be expected from the proposal must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All of the proposal's relevant factors will be considered, including conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, flood plain values, land use classification, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. The Environmental Protection Agency's "Guidelines for Specification of Disposal Sites for Dredged or Fill Material" will also be applied (Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act).
The Corps of Engineers is soliciting comments from the public; Federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by the Corps of Engineers to determine whether to issue, modify, condition or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. Anyone may request a public hearing to consider this permit application by writing to the District Commander within 30 days of the date of this notice, stating specific reasons for holding the public hearing. The District Commander will then decide if a hearing should be held.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this project should be made in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WR-R, Stephen Decker), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on November 28, 2014.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including the identity of the submitter, submitted in response to this Public Notice may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed at the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
If you have any questions about this project or the permit process, contact Stephen Decker (757) 201-7832, or stephen.j.decker@usace.army.mil.
FOR THE DISTRICT COMMANDER:
Stephen Decker
Environmental Scientist
Eastern Virginia Regulatory Section
Attachment: Drawings